Melissa Kirkendall: Lessons of Compassion, Strength and Anthropology

By Akane McCann

Anthropologist, archaeologist, storyteller.

 

Dr. Melissa Kirkendall (who goes by Dr. K) has a lot she can teach you. But what she really hopes her students will learn is how to see the world and the people in it with an open heart and a open mind.

In 1972, Dr. K moved from California to the Big Island, where she became a storyteller for 14 years. Today, she brings storytelling into the classroom at UH Maui College to share with students what anthropology looks like in the real world. Students visualize and remember these stories bringing anthropology to life in a way textbooks can not.

One of these stories is the adventure Dr. K had while doing her dissertation work on Matuku, a small island in Fiji. She had gone down to Suva, the capital of Fiji, in advance over spring break to make arrangements to take a boat to the island of Matuku. However, when she arrived in June, she was told the captain of the cargo ship was at a funeral and it was unknown when the ship would be leaving again. After being stuck in Suva for a couple weeks, finally she found another cargo ship that would take her on the three-day trip across rough seas. The ship dropped her off at the wharf at midnight. “When I say wharf, it was a little piece of cement jutting into the water,” Dr. K said. After shining flashlights over to the village, Dr. K heard the puttering of a small motorboat coming to take her to the village where they had a house ready for her. She had written in advance to get permission from the Native Land Commission, Council of Chiefs, the High Chief of the Lau Islands and the High Chief of Matuku Island. “So I had permission to go but we didn’t know when I’d arrive, they didn’t know when I’d come, but they were ready for us,” Dr. K said. “They just welcomed us into the village.”

During the three months she was on Matuku, Dr. K surveyed as much of the island as she could and made close friends with the local people. “We were one of them,” Dr. K said, recalling her wonderful experience there. The hardest part of working on Matuku was leaving her new close friends behind. “When you do anthropology and you go to a situation like that and you become part of the village, when you leave, it leaves a hole,” she said. “In us as well as in them.”

When it became time to leave she waited for a cargo ship that never came. Eventually, she was able to leave on a mineral resources vessel. Just as she ship was leaving she saw the cargo ship pass her finally approaching Matuku with all of her mail aboard. Dr. K wishes she could return to Matuku one day, but due to a physical injury she believes this will not be possible.

Four years ago, three days before Christmas, Dr. K was hit head-on while driving on Honoapi’ilani Highway. She saw the car coming, braced herself and watched as the windows shattered and the airbags deployed. The accident broke her calcaneus, otherwise known as the heel bone, into 30 pieces and severed an artery in her foot. She went from 13 to 7 liters of blood. “Had I stayed in the car and waited for EMTs, I would have died,” Dr. K said. After the accident, she was in a wheelchair for eight months. “I think my grit helped me through.” she said. “When they told me I wouldn’t walk I refused to believe that.” Dr. K powered through her injury taking the bus to school every day. The bus would drop her off at the bottom of a hill and she would push herself up the hill backwards using her uninjured foot to reach her classroom. She was blown away by how many people offered to help her. Students who didn’t know her would often offer to help and push her up the hill. “People are good. People were really really helpful,” Dr. K said with a smile. “No question about it.”

Dr. K was a full-time lecturer at UH Maui College when she interviewed for the position of Instructor of Anthropology while still in a wheelchair, not letting her injury get in the way of her passion. She was selected out of several qualified applicants for the position and finally had her dream job. “I have never been so happy in my life,” she said. The reason? Her students.

Dr. K loves watching the light bulb go on when students make connections between what they are learning in their classes. She encourages her students to ask themselves not what job they want to have, but what problems they want to solve. Students who learn anthropology can use their knowledge to help others understand each other and see the value in every culture. She believes that everyone can help increase understanding, even if they are still a student. Dr. K urges her students to pursue their goals, and she has some goals of her own.

“If I can make some students love learning, I have achieved my goals,” Dr. K said. “If I can leave them feeling more open minded than they were the day before, I’ve achieved my goals. If I can make them want to become involved in the larger community helping people, solving problems, making connections with people, I’ve achieved my goals.”